Recent advances in cardiac SPECT instrumentation and imaging methods

Area of Science:

• Nuclear medicine
• Cardiovascular imaging
• Medical physics

Background:

• Cardiac SPECT is crucial for diagnosing and managing cardiovascular disease, especially coronary artery disease (CAD).
• Conventional SPECT scanners have limitations including low photon sensitivity, poor image resolution, and long acquisition times.
• Recent innovations aim to overcome these limitations and expand clinical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advancements in cardiac SPECT instrumentation and imaging methods.
• To highlight developments since 2012 and their impact on cardiac SPECT.
• To discuss the future of cardiac SPECT from an imaging physics perspective.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent literature on cardiac SPECT instrumentation and imaging techniques published since 2012.
• Focus on dedicated cardiac scanners, novel collimators, and advanced imaging algorithms.
• Discussion of image correction techniques for improved accuracy.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in photon sensitivity and image resolution are emerging.
• New developments facilitate ultra-low-dose imaging and absolute quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and coronary flow reserve (CFR).
• Advanced algorithms enable effective corrections for attenuation, scatter, motion, and partial volume effects.

Conclusions:

• Recent advancements are transforming cardiac SPECT, offering enhanced diagnostic capabilities.
• These innovations promise improved image quality, reduced radiation dose, and expanded clinical applications.
• The future of cardiac SPECT lies in continued technological and algorithmic development for quantitative imaging.